Happy Hour Projects

Creativity in an hour or less with Adrianne Surian

“Beautiful” Bracelet

26 Comments

Yes, I do make a lot of bracelets.  I just love them.  Part of it is that when you wear a bracelet, you can see it, even on yourself.  Not so much so with earrings or necklaces, and I’m sorry, but one ring is all I need. ;)

So I am sorry if you’re tired of seeing bracelets, but I’m not tired of them at all.  It’s probably never going to happen!

This was a Frankenstein project.

And by that, I mean, I went ahead without ideal parts, improvised along the way, and it worked out beautifully in the end.

Actually, I never saw Frankenstein, I saw Young Frankenstein… I need to remember that those two are not the same.  That might not be how Frankenstein ends?

I’m digressing already.

Anyway I really, really wanted to use these brown and blue beads.  I think they are a semi-polished, dyed stone bead (the label never said, I found these at Michael’s not too long ago).  But what you see here is all I had, so I decided to make sort of a hybrid bracelet, and use chain for the additional length.

I used a 7.5″ bracelet chain.  Hobby Lobby sells these for $2.99 (frequently half off, making them $1.50 – and I’m sure other craft stores have them too) and just removed as many links as the length I had for my beads.  You could use chain by the foot (technically the inch, for this type of project), an old or broken necklace – any few inches of chain will work!

I strung my beads, and tied one end to the end of the chain that still had the clasp on it, and the other end to the jump ring closure.

Then I kept going.  I loved how my twisted bead bracelet from a few weeks back turned out with the different shapes and textures of bead stands, so I added a few more coordinated strands of beads for a similar look.  I was LOVING the combination, and I put it on to admire it, only to realize…

… it was of course too heavy, and the beaded side went immediately to the bottom of my wrist.  Why did this not occur to me before?  So I debated whether to take the additional strands back off, which was already lovely when I first got started, or whether to add something beautiful to the chain side instead, since that’s the side I’ll most often be looking at.

So I had an idea, and I hauled out my metal stamps.

**UPDATE** I promised I’d share some metal stamping tips, and I now have a tutorial posted for it, so check that post out if that’s something you’re interested in learning!  Okay – back to the current project!!

I only had to think for a minute before I knew I wanted it to say, “beautiful”.  I’m not sure why, it just seemed like it fit the look, so I went with my gut and stamped it up.  Then I just removed a bit more of the chain, punched an extra hole in the blank, and added it in.

Do you like it?

Thanks for reading yet another chapter in the saga of my bracelet-making addiction.  And yes, I certainly do have more.  Next week I’m going to show you more jewelry projects with words – no stamps required!

I link up to these great parties!
~ Adrianne

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Comments

  2. I LOVE bracelets. I make them all the time and they make great gifts for anyone! Your bracelets are great! I love them . Such nice work!

    Reply

  3. I do love this bracelet and found I had a chain left over from a beading project that didn’t work out. I also have this wonderful purple swirl bracelets and want to put together something with them. So I went to allfreejewelry and clicked on bracelet projects and this thread of yours came up! I was so excited because I already loved your projects and had “liked” your fb page so I’m going to give this one a go! Hopefully it will turn out as beautiful as yours! Thanks for post, love your site!

    Reply

  5. I love your gorgeous bracelet. I've just started doing a little stamping. Afraid I'm not to good at it yet. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  6. That is so lovely!!!I want to make some..and would love to learn to do stamping!

    THanks so much for linking up at Create & Inspire!! I will be featuring your project this Friday..

    THanks,
    Angie

    Reply

  7. I love it! It really is beautiful-I haven't done much lately with jewelry but would like to try again-your bracelet inspires me :)

    Reply

  13. Visiting from “blog stalker”. I am so glad I found you. Definitely becoming a follower. Your bracelet is amazing. I really love how it urned out. Would you mind telling me a little more about metal stamping. I know nothing! I have a craft space full of beads and made very simple jewelry a couple of years ago. I stopped (not sure why) but would love to get back into it. I LOVE how the stamped metal piece looks on your piece.

    Where do you find the stamps and metal pieces? Is it expensive or very hard to do?

    I mean I am really, really loving that bracelet and you may be the inspiration I need to get back into it.

    Thanks for sharing ( I think this may be the longest comment I have ever left :)

    Reply

  14. Bracelet is my favourite jewellery. Its very easy to make it as well as look to beautiful and fashionable also its material and colour is so good. You have done great work.

    codice promozione

    Reply

  15. hey, i love the bracelet colors. I can't do anything that intricate! I found you through the its so very cheri blog hop. I'm following you on linky. would love for you to return the favor. kathy, Petticoat Junktion

    Reply

  18. Sooooooo pretty!! I really want to start stamping. I LOVE how the word ties the entire piece together. Looks great.

    Reply

  19. That is so pretty!!! I LOVE, LOVE it!! Thanks so much for sharing at Thursday's Temptation.
    Jill

    Reply

  20. I love it! I'm like you – a bracelet vs a necklace any day. You can't see the necklace AND my neck hurts if it's too heavy.

    Reply

  21. Oh yeah, this is gorgeous. I love how you can start in one direction and then end up way over there. And it looks great. What a great way to use up nice beads that you don't have many of, too. (ooh, some nice grammar right there)

    Reply

  24. Adrianne…this is gorgeous! You make me want to get out all of my bead stuff again! I have metal stamps and have had 2 complete failures with them….so…..I'm looking forward to some stamp advice!

    Reply

  25. I love it! And it is beautiful ;)
    I really have been wanting to get a stamping kit!

    Reply

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  1. […] s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); I got some great feedback from my stamped & beaded bracelet, and as promised, I’m going to give you all some jewelry stamping tips, in case you’re […]

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